Date:01/10/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/10/01/stories/2007100158100200.htm

Back

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Spirit of engineering to fly high at IIT Madras’ ‘Shaastra’

Meera Srinivasan

Energy conservation is the theme of this year’s festival

— PHOTO: M. VEDHAN

Ready to fly: The ‘Yu Fly’ demonstration at the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras in Chennai on Saturday.

CHENNAI: This year’s edition of ‘Shaastra’ — the annual technical festival of the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras, commencing on Wednesday, will provide a launch pad for a new generation of Vertical Take Off and Landing (VTOL) aircrafts.

On Saturday, IIT-M director M.S. Ananth and his colleagues saw a demonstration of ‘Yu Fly’, a project undertaken by the second year students of IIT-M, featuring VTOL aircrafts to be showcased in ‘Shaastra 2007’, celebrating the ‘spirit of engineering’.

The working model of the VTOL aircrafts have been based on the ‘Coanda effect’, which states that the fluid flowing on a surface sticks to the surface rather than flowing tangentially to it. The model is said to have great energy efficiency, making it relevant to ‘Energy conservation’, the theme chosen for this year. Superior stability and better control are among its other advantages.

The event, organised with the aim of providing a meeting ground for some of the finest young technical minds of India, will have over 800 colleges from across the country participating.

A new design of an efficient Bio Diesel Plant will be showcased. The running of an engine with bio-diesel at an affordable cost, without polluting the environment will be exhibited.

The five-day event will come to a close on October 7. One of the largest technical festivals in India, it has the distinction of being an ISO 9001:2000 certified event organised by students.

Last year’s edition of ‘Shaastra’ had about 20,000 students from 805 colleges all over India. The total prize money to be offered is over Rs.10 lakh. For details, visit www.shaastra.org.